Background: Motor neuron disease (MND) is a progressive neurological disorder with no known cure that damages motor neurons. The purpose of this analysis is to examine the place of death for MND patients in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic and to investigate the extent of specific comorbidities.
Methods: We obtained death certificate and associated comorbidities data for all U.S. MND deaths from 2018 to 2021. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional analysis of the deaths pre-COVID-19 (2018-2019) and during COVID-19 (2020-2021) to assess the pandemic’s impact on place of death for MND patients.
Results: We analyzed 30,066 MND deaths (14,562 pre-COVID-19 and 15,504 during COVID-19) aged 20 years and older. During COVID-19, MND deaths at home increased (54.4% vs. 45.5% pre-COVID). Hispanic individuals had an increased likelihood of dying at home compared to a nursing home or hospice (OR=1.42, 95%CI: 1.21-1.68), but a decreased likelihood compared to a hospital (OR=0.61, 95% CI: 0.51-0.72) and (OR=0.72, 95%CI: 0.63-0.83). Among the top comorbidities listed there was a 27.8% increase in diabetes mellitus and a 20.2% increase in essential hypertension during COVID-19. During COVID-19, diabetes mellitus was more commonly reported as a comorbidity for deaths occurring in hospitals (OR=1.40, 95%CI: 1.03-1.89) or at home (OR=1.26, 95%CI: 1.03-1.55), while essential hypertension was more commonly reported with deaths at home (OR=1.17, 95%CI: 1.01-1.36).
Conclusion: Our analysis showed an increase in at-home MND deaths as well as certain comorbidities during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting MND patients had a higher likelihood of death from non-COVID-19 comorbidities.